Fileshare Tutorials

All staff and faculty members in the college have read-only access to the STAFF-RESOURCES shared folder on the file server. Individuals may also have access to unit- or project-specific folders. To request access to additional folders, contact your chair/director. For technical support, contact cahserver@ucf.edu.

Accessing the file server on a PC

If you are off-campus, you must use VPN to join the UCF network before you can access shared folders on the file server.

For computers on the university’s NET domain:

Open Windows Explorer (Windows Key + E). On the left you should see a list of drives. Choose the S Drive: cah (\\net.ucf.edu) (S:)

You will see the top directory of the college file server. If you are unable to connect, do not see any contents, or cannot access necessary folders, contact your unit’s chair/director or IT Liaison.

For computers NOT on the domain:

Open Windows Explorer (Windows Key + E), type the following in the address bar, then press Enter: \\net.ucf.edu\cah

Fill in your NID credentials to authenticate.

You will see the top directory of the college file server. If you are unable to connect, do not see any contents, or cannot access necessary folders, contact your unit’s chair/director or IT Liaison.

Accessing the file server on a Mac

If you are off-campus, you must use VPN to join the UCF network before you can access shared folders on the file server.

From the Finder (your desktop), type Command-K, or navigate in the top menu as follows: Go > Connect to Server…

In the pop-up dialog, under Server Address, type smb://net.ucf.edu/cah/

Click the + icon to add the server address to your favorite servers, so that you can quickly access it in the future.

Click Connect. If you are prompted, fill in your NID credentials to authenticate.

Once the connection is complete, you will see the top directory of the college file server. If you are unable to connect, do not see any contents, or cannot access necessary folders, contact your unit’s chair/director or IT Liaison.

If you are already connected to the share but having trouble navigating back to it, type Command-Shift-C, or navigate in the top menu as follows: Go > Computer. You will see a list of all local, external and network drives to which you are connected. Navigate to the appropriate drive.

Connecting to VPN on a PC

In order to use the university VPN on a PC, Cisco AnyConnect client is required. Cisco AnyConnect is pre-installed on workstations that are connected to the university’s NET domain. Simply open the client and authenticate with your NID credentials to connect to the UCF VPN.

If your computer is not on the domain (personal computers and many university-owned laptops), you will need to download and install the Cisco AnyConnect client.

For help installing the client, contact UCF IT Support. You can submit a ticket at ucf.service-now.com by navigating to Request a Service > Software Request.

Connecting to VPN on a Mac

From the Finder (your desktop), click the apple menu in the top menu bar and navigate to System Preferences.

In the System Preferences pane, select Network.

Click the + icon in the lower left.

In the Interface dialog, select VPN from the drop-down menu. For VPN Type, select Cisco IPSec. For Service Name, choose something appropriate such as “UCF VPN.” Click Create.

Back in the Network pane, type ucfvpn-1.vpn.ucf.edu in the Server Address field, and fill in the Account Name with your NID. You can fill in the Password with your NID password, but UCF’s network will still prompt you to authenticate each time you connect.

Click Authentication Settings. In the pop-up dialog, click the radio button for Shared Secret. Type pegasus (all lowercase) in the Shared Secret field. The Group Name should be ucffaculty (one word, all lowercase). Click OK.

If you want to access VPN regularly, click the checkbox for “Show VPN status in menu bar.” A small icon will appear on right side of the top menu bar. (It looks something like a battery or a grill face.) You can use that menu to quickly access the VPN connection.

Click Connect in the System Preferences > Network pane, or use the VPN status icon/drop-down in the top menu bar. When prompted for your account name and password in the VPN Connection pop-up, use your NID credentials.

Before the connection is successfully established, you will be prompted with a disclaimer pop-up. Click connect. You are now connected to the UCF network via VPN. The top menu bar will now display the amount of time you have been connected. You can use that menu to disconnect (or reconnect if your VPN connection is lost).

Once you have everything set up, you can start at step 8 to connect to VPN.